Pair admit setting fire to restaurant

Although one of the men who admitted setting fire to a Thibodaux restaurant will be recommended for boot camp, the other man who pleaded guilty will likely have to serve prison sentences.

Katie UrbaszewskiStaff Writer

Although one of the men who admitted setting fire to a Thibodaux restaurant will be recommended for boot camp, the other man who pleaded guilty will likely have to serve prison sentences.Derek Hebert, 22, 143 Richland Drive, Thibodaux, was sentenced this week to five years in prison for the spring Western Sizzlin arson, court officials said. Judge John LeBlanc handed down Hebert's sentenced after giving Donavan Hoffpauir, 18, 928 La. 20, Thibodaux, the same amount of time earlier this month. But the judge said he would recommend Hoffpauir for a six-month corrections boot camp program, according to Hoffpauir's grandparents.Western Sizzlin, a steakhouse at 411 N. Canal Blvd., remains closed. About 60 people lost their jobs as a result.Hebert and Hoffpauir both pleaded to one count of simple arson, said Kristine Russell, first assistant district attorney in Lafourche.The boot camp Hoffpauir may attend is at the Elayn Hunt Correctional Center in St. Gabriel, said his grandfather Wayne Elliot, who raised him. Hoffpauir is being processed at another correctional center.Hebert's family could not be reached Wednesday.Hoffpauir and Hebert were drinking with friends May 21 when they started talking about burning down the Western Sizzlin, where they used to work, Thibodaux Police said at the time of their arrest. Friends who were with them thought the pair was joking.Hoffpauir is a “hard worker,” who had attended church with his grandparents the day before the restaurant burned down, Elliot said. Although Hoffpauir graduated from Thibodaux High School, he could not attend the ceremony because he was arrested days before. “You made one decision and ruined your whole life,” Elliot said he told Hoffpauir after his arrest.However, the grandparents helped him make bond months after awaiting trial in the Lafourche Parish jail, and “he was a really different person those two months,” Elliot said. “He did what he was told and was very cooperative.”“He says he made a mistake, and he learned his lesson,” Elliot said.Hoffpauir quit his job at Western Sizzlin about four months before the fire, managers said. The company fired Hebert about two years ago after he allegedly punched and broke a glass cooler.Western Sizzlin owner Jim Keller couldn't be reached for comment about the future of the restaurant.Although the fire only damaged the outside of the building, near the back, it set off the sprinklers, firefighters said. Water flooded the building and caused part of the ceiling to cave in.

Staff Writer Katie Urbaszewski can be reached at 448-7617 or katie.urbaszewski@dailycomet.com.